Rhode Island Hospital Emergency Medicine Physician Adam Levine, M.D., Receives Inaugural Humanitarian Service Award

Posted Monday, July 09, 2012

Rhode Island Hospital emergency medicine physician Adam C. Levine, M.D., was recently honored with the Global Emergency Medicine Academy's inaugural Humanitarian Service Award. Levine received the award honoring his work as a volunteer physician with International Medical Corps.

The Humanitarian Service Award was created to honor a member of the Global Emergency Medicine Academy (GEMA), a branch of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, who has used specialty-specific skills to provide humanitarian assistance to distressed populations in a disaster situation. This award also may be given to an individual who has dedicated a significant portion of his/her career to providing charity clinical care in austere environments abroad and/or creating access to sustainable care. The recipient is nominated by peers and selected by a GEMA awards committee.

Levine received this award largely for his work with International Medical Corps (IMC). He began his work with IMC providing clinical care in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after the 2010 earthquake. In 2011, he joined the IMC in Libya, helping to run a trauma field hospital. Recently, Levine spent a month managing a medical clinic in South Sudan.

“Dr. Levine is dedicated to caring for all populations, but with a specific interest in distressed countries,” said Brian Zink, M.D., chief of emergency medicine at Rhode Island Hospital. “His outstanding emergency medicine skills, coupled with his commitment to compassionate care, make him the ideal recipient for this inaugural Humanitarian Service Award. We are very proud to have one of our own receive this honor.”

In addition to his volunteer work with IMC, Levine serves as a clinical advisor for emergency and trauma care in Rwanda for Partners in Health. He spends three months each year training Rwandan physicians in acute and trauma care, and develops protocols to help rural Rwandan hospitals manage emergency conditions with the resources available to them. Levine has been to Mexico, India, Zambia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Haiti, Libya, and South Sudan, working clinically and conducting research.

“I can't think of a more deserving GEMA member than Dr. Adam Levine to receive our first Humanitarian Service Award,” said Ian B.K. Martin, M.D., GEMA president and founder. “Dr. Levine’s commitment to caring for the underprivileged and underserved is a testament to his dedication to the medical profession. We are proud to have someone of his caliber in our organization, and to have him be the first member to receive this distinction.”

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